NAMI Main Line Groups and Tips for Staying Positive

Our Parent Peer Support Group for parents with a middle school through young adult child will not be able to meet at Wayne Presbyterian Church during the COVID-19 emergency. We are planning alternative methods of meeting (telephone and video). If you are interested in the support group and are not currently on Nancy Dever’s weekly email list, please email Nancy as this is how she will communicate how the group will connect each week.

Our NAMI Connection Recovery Support Group for adults living with mental illness on Tuesday evenings will be meeting remotely. Please contact Danielle Sulpizio at (484) 880-0660 or Ed Kane at (484) 744-0860 for more information.

Our Bryn Mawr Family Member Support Group will meet virtually on Monday, April 6, at 7 p.m. The meeting will be held using Zoom. For more information, please contact Diane at 610-247-4545.

Family-to-Family at the Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood has been postponed. We will publicize the new start date once it has been finalized. This course will meet once a week for 8 weeks from 7-9:30 p.m. on Wednesday evenings. Date to be determined. For questions or to register, please contact Judy Green at F2FMainLine@aol.com.

Out of an abundance of caution and to maintain the health and well-being of our participants, we have decided to postpone our Main Line NAMI Workshop: Balancing Compassionate Kindness with Limit Setting that was scheduled for March 22. We do plan to reschedule this event at a later date. We will let you know once we have determined the date.

As of today, our Main Line NAMI Interactive Forum: Ask the Experts is scheduled to be on Sunday, May 3, from 2-4 p.m. at Ardmore Presbyterian Church. For more information, please contact us at 267-251-6240 or info@NAMIMainLinePA.org. Registration is not required.

For the most up-to-date event information, please see our Events page.

9 Ways To Stay Positive During The Coronavirus OutbreakExcerpted from NAMI Montgomery County PA

Limit your intake. Choose a single news source and decide how much limited time you’ll spend with it each day. Then stick to your plan.

Look to the past. Get hope from your past resilience. You have likely endured other unforeseen major life disrupters like 9/11, major hurricanes, or the financial meltdown of 2008. You made it through! And you are stronger because of it. Know that you will get through this. Remind yourself of your resilience on a regular basis.

Watch a funny video. Thanks to the huge popularity of YouTube, there are thousands of videos that can help you take your mind off current events, if only for three minutes at a time.

Look after your neighbors. You may be at low risk of severe consequences from the virus, but it may not be the same for your neighbors whose immune systems are compromised. The act of checking in on them (keeping six feet apart, of course) will not only make them feel good, it will make you feel good and remind you that there are others for whom this predicament is even more stressful.

Support your favorite local business. Buy a gift card to help the business owner now, and prepay for a wonderful meal you can have to celebrate when this pandemic is behind us.

Send gifts in the mail. It may not be wise to drop in on your loved ones with some fresh-baked goodies, so send them a card or gift in the mail. Unexpected treats can be a huge pick-me-up-in times of stress. This is especially valuable to the elderly who are living in nursing homes. Many facilities have closed their doors to all visitors, making residents feel even more isolated and vulnerable.

Take advantage of found time. Spend time on projects/activities around the house you never get to; clean a closet, play board games, build a puzzle

Practice random acts of kindness. Your kindness doesn’t require a monetary outlay. Write an unsolicited review for a favorite business. Comment on a colleague’s LinkedIn post. Mail a note of appreciation to a friend or colleague. Thank the custodians in your building or workplace for their efforts to keep things safe. Think of those who could benefit from your thoughtfulness and generosity. Then act.

Take a daily inventory. Close your day, every day, with a positive acknowledgement of something you accomplished, learned or are grateful for. It will help dilute some of the negativity you’ve absorbed and remind you that not everything that’s happening right now is bad or depressing.

In times of constant negative messaging, you need an antidote so that you can keep your positive attitude and march forward with determination and hope. Be deliberate in activities that are positive, heartwarming, stress reducing and laughter inducing! Together, we’ll get through this.